Miners at Warwickshire?s last working pit were today considering strike action in a dispute over jobs.

Miners at Warwickshire?s last working pit were today considering strike action in a dispute over jobs.

Ballot papers are being sent out to the 400 members of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers at Daw Mill mine, at Furnace End, near Bedworth.

About 2,000 members of the union in the Midlands are voting on industrial action, with the result due next month.

The men are employed by UK Coal, formerly RJB Mining, and the union chiefs fear 70 jobs could be lost at each of five pits in the Midlands, with the threat of further redundancies to follow.

The UDM, born out of the bitter miners? dispute in the 1980s, has never taken industrial action.

Union president Neil Greatrex said: ?We are fed up with the attitude of the company. They are refusing to consult with us and the lads are saying, let?s have a go.?

Tom Gay, the UDM branch secretary at Daw Mill, said today: ?I would expect a ?Yes? vote. At Daw Mill, they have already announced 38 redundancies and they are talking about making 50 to 60 per cent of the workforce redundant. I get the feeling they want a confrontation.?